Le succès éditorial et critique de l'Oraison sur l'origine et l'office de la littérature (1809) de Foscolo a laissé dans l'ombre les autres textes du corpus des cours que l'écrivain italien assura à l'Université de Pavie. Ce travail souhaite éclairer cet aspect de l'œuvre de Foscolo, souvent négligé par la critique littéraire. A cette fin nous reconstruisons l'activité d'enseignement de Foscolo à Pavie et la place qu'elle assume dans sa réflexion littéraire et philosophique. Les cours concentrent à eux tous seuls bon nombre de motifs-clé de sa production littéraire. Ils catalysent les suggestions provenant de ses lectures et des débats littéraires des années précédentes qui avaient nourri une réflexion restée jusque-là à l'état fragmentaire tout en préparant la systématisation de sa pensée critique qui caractérise la production de sa période anglaise (1817-1827). En particulier, dans ces cours, Foscolo poursuit deux objectifs principaux : 1) définir la fonction civique de l'homme de lettres à travers une nouvelle caractérisation éthique et politique de l'éloquence ; 2) formuler un projet éducatif qui s'adresse à la classe moyenne, d'où émerge la nécessité de créer une langue unitaire et une tradition littéraire nationale et la revendication d'un nouveau modèle d'historiographie qui dépasse les limites de l'érudition du XVIIIe siècle. Cette étude est complétée par la reconstruction de l'histoire éditoriale des cours et leur commentaire. Le texte revu et corrigé critiquement (par rapport à la dernière édition, celle d'Emilio Santini, qui ne rend pas compte d'importantes corrections et variantes) sert de base pour le commentaire, une annotation critique et historique qui illustre les sources utilisées par Foscolo et de usage, direct ou indirect, qu'il en fit dans sa réflexion littéraire, philosophique et linguistique / The positive reviews – both editorial and critical – achieved by Foscolo's 1809 lecture On the origin and duty of literature have overshadowed the Italian author's text corpus of the classes he's given at the University of Pavia. This study is willing to explain this specific aspect of Foscolo's work, often skipped by literary criticism. For this aim we reenact Foscolo's teaching experience in Pavia and the importance of it in His philosophical and literary thought. His classes alone include a good number of key themes of His literary work. Those catalyze the suggestions coming from his readings and the literary debates of the previous years, that have fed His thinking, at that time still in development , but soon to be settled in His critical thought, clearly visible in His English period work (1817-1827). In these classes particularly, Foscolo tries to reach two primary goals: 1) to define the civil duties of a literary man by a new ethical and political definition of oratory; 2) to create an educational project for the middle class; hence it bursts the need for creating a common unitary language and a national literary tradition as well as the assert of a new historiographical model, able to go beyond the Eighteenth Century scholarship boundaries. This study is concluded with a timeline reconstruction of the publishing history of His classes and their commentary. Such text lessons, critically revised and corrected (compared to their last edition available – edited by Emilio Santini – that failed to consider important revisions and different versions) are the foundation of the commentary, a critical and historical marginalia showing the sources used by Foscolo and of the use – either directly or indirectly – he made in His literary, philosophical and linguistic thought

Le second tiers du XIXe siècle correspond à un moment d’intenses mutations au sein du champ éditorial : avec l’entrée de l’imprimé dans l’ère de la production et de la consommation de masse, c’est le statut du livre lui-même qui se trouve remis en question. On assiste dès lors aux prémices d’une nouvelle forme de bibliophilie, qui se construit en tournant le dos aux normes de la librairie contemporaine pour privilégier, à l’inverse, des valeurs de singularité et de rareté. Or, un certain nombre d’auteurs, parmi lesquels Charles Nodier, Paul Lacroix, les frères Goncourt, Gérard de Nerval ou encore Octave Uzanne, s’adonnent eux-mêmes à la passion des livres anciens ou précieux, et en nourrissent plusieurs de leurs textes. Cette étude vise précisément à mettre en lumière les rapports étroits qui unissent tout au long du XIXe siècle pratiques bibliophiliques et création littéraire. Au croisement de l’histoire du livre, de l’analyse textuelle, et de l’histoire littéraire, la bibliophilie s’affirme comme un objet éminemment poétique, un répertoire complexe de motifs et de représentations liés au livre. Dans le même temps, elle se présente comme une pratique socio-culturelle singulière qui contribue à mettre au jour les tensions liées à l’irruption de la modernité industrielle dans la production et la transmission de l’imprimé. / Around 1830, the publishing sector experiences numerous shifts : with the printing system submitting itself to new mass producing principles, the status of the book itself is at stake. From this moment on, we witness the beginnings of a new form of bibliophilism, which builds itself by turning its back on the contemporary publishing standards. Some writers, amongst whom Charles Nodier, Paul Lacroix, the Goncourt brothers, Gérad de Nerval, or Octave Uzanne, are dedicated to collecting rare or valuable books, and find in this passion an inspiration for their own work. This study aims at showing the strength of the links between bibliophilism and writing during all of the XIXtch century. At the intersection of several disciplines such as book history, stylistic analysis, or history of literature, bibliophilism appears as a strongly poetical object and as a complex compilation of themes and topics about books. At the same time, bibliophilism ca be defined as a singular socio-cultural habit, that allows us to perceive all the tensions arisen by the development of modern and industrial ways of producing and selling books.

L’administrateur de la manufacture de Sèvres, Alexandre Brongniart, ouvrait au public en 1824 le musée royal céramique et vitrique, envisagé dès 1802, et qui se voulait d’un genre nouveau. À vocation encyclopédique, dans l’esprit des Lumières, il ambitionnait de présenter les céramiques de tous les lieux et de tous les temps afin de former les ouvriers et les artistes. L’histoire de l’institution, que nous avons souhaité retracer et analyser sur plus d’un siècle, n’est pas linéaire et son évolution se dessine au gré des changements économiques, esthétiques ou des bouleversements politiques. Dès lors, notre étude entreprend de montrer de quelle manière se construit le passage d’un musée technique créé par un naturaliste évoluant au sein du Muséum, vers une construction vouée entièrement à l’art, à la mise en patrimoine de la céramique, au monde du collectionnisme. Les nombreux legs et donations d’amateurs, la nomination du collectionneur Champfleury à sa direction, le développement de recherches historiques sur ce domaine artistique, sont autant de facteurs qui vont contribuer à façonner le musée en ce XIXe siècle fasciné par l’objet manufacturé. À travers ces pistes de recherche, notre approche consiste à étudier le rôle de cet établissement dans un contexte d’essor industriel et d’un intérêt nouveau pour les « arts mineurs ». Ainsi, nous proposons, par le biais de ce travail, de contribuer aux réflexions, toujours actuelles, sur les interactions entre l’art et l’industrie. / The Musée Céramique et Vitrique was opened to the public in 1824 by Alexandre Brongniart, the administrator of the Sèvres manufactory. The museum was conceptualized in 1802, and aimed to be of a new sort. In the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment Brongniart aimed to create an encyclopaedia of ceramic education and skills for future ceramics workers and artists. We have attempted to redraw and analyze the history of the institution for over a century, and we have discovered that it does not follow a linear path. The evolution of the institution was influenced by economic, aesthetic, and political upheavals. Our current study attempts to show how a museum, created by a naturalist and dedicated to technical knowledge, evolved to what it is now, an institution focused on the art and history of ceramics, with a lesser emphasis on collectibles. Many factors shape the museum in this XIXth century, including; the legacy and donations of amateurs, the management of collector Champfleury, and historical research on the art of ceramics. Our approach will be to study the role of the museum in the context of industrial development, and a renewed interest in the “minor arts”. Through this study, we aim to show the interactions between art and the industry.

Esta dissertação de Mestrado tem por objetivo explicitar a relação entre senhores e escravos, analisando as alforrias no contexto da transmissão de bens e partilha de heranças, entre 1850 e 1888, nas freguesias da Sé, Brás, Santa Efigênia, Penha, Conceição de Guarulhos, Juquery, Nossa Senhora do Ó, São Bernardo e Cotia, que eram os Distritos de Paz da cidade de São Paulo. Pretende-se, partindo das manumissões registradas nos testamentos, principalmente as condicionadas à morte do proprietário de cativos, verificar a obtenção da liberdade jurídica, entendida como conquista do status jurídico de forro pelo ex-cativo e seus possíveis significados. Para tal enfoque, serão analisados os testamentos, inventários post-mortem e as cartas de liberdade registradas na Capital. Desse modo, será possível confrontar a vontade dos testadores à forma como esta pôde ser cumprida, após a morte, levando em consideração o patrimônio amealhado, as atitudes dos herdeiros nas sucessões e a legislação exposta nas Ordenações Filipinas, na Constituição de 1824, nos decretos e leis excepcionais, no Direito Romano e no direito consuetudinário, dispositivos que influenciavam nos assuntos relativos à escravidão. / This Masters Degree Dissertation has as subject to demonstrate the relationship between masters and slaves, analysing the alforrias in the context of transmition of goods and sharing of heritages, from 1850 to 1888, in the Freguesias of Sé, Brás, Santa Ifigênia, Penha, Conceição de Guarulhos, Juquery, Nossa Senhora do Ó, São Bernardo and Cotia, which were the Distritos de Paz of São Paulo City. We aim to verify the obtention of legal freedom, understood as a conquest of legal status as forro by the ex-captive and the possibles meanings of it, starting from manumitions registered on wills, mainly the conditional manumitions linked to the death of captive owners. Through this perspective, the wills, inventories post-mortem and freedom letters registered on the city capital will be analysed. By this way, it will be possible to confront the wishes of the slave owners with the mode those ones could be accomplished after the owners death, taking in account the patrimony amassed, the atitudes of the heirs concerning the succession, and the laws exposed in the Ordenações Filipinas, in the Constitution of 1824, in the decrees and exceptional laws, in Roman and Common Law, in all these legal documents that had influence on the themes related to slavery.

Au XIXe siècle, la photographie est vue comme une image vraie. Produite mécaniquement, elle serait la copie fidèle de la réalité, ce qui justifie la croyance en la vérité de ses images. Dès les premiers discours tenus à son égard, la photographie apparaît comme une image transparente, ne donnant rien d’autre à voir que la réalité, ce qui explique notamment les postures de rejet généralement adoptées par les écrivains et les artistes face à cette image, antithèse de l’art. Notre travail s’efforce de montrer comment, à l’inverse, la photographie a été, dans les textes littéraires en particulier, rendue à sa visibilité, c’est-à-dire à sa nature de vraie image. Pour cela, nous déterminons comment le phénomène optique de l’aberration, qui suppose une déformation de l’image plus ou moins visible, rend compte d’une pensée s’attachant à concevoir la photographie comme vectrice de troubles dans sa représentation. Nous examinons alors différentes manifestations de ces phénomènes dans la littérature, qui sont liées à une conscience de la matérialité des images, de leur mode de fabrication particulier, mais aussi de leurs défauts, opacifiant ce qu’elles représentent. L’attention de certains écrivains portée à ce que nous appelons la dimension photographique des photographies ouvre des pistes multiples sur la poétique des textes et situe le modèle photographique dans un ailleurs du réalisme. La réflexion sur la photographie dans les textes permet également de mesurer les conséquences d’une croyance en la vérité des images, croyance qui se révèle, à différents niveaux, comme aberrante. En effet, le fantasme d’une visibilité parfaite n’a pas seulement été appréhendé comme un moyen de mesure rationnelle du monde. La visibilité accrue et excessive de la photographie révèle au contraire ce que la réalité a de plus étrange et de plus inquiétant. Dans les textes, le modèle photographique éclaire alors une représentation fantastique du monde, lorsque celui-ci s’ouvre aux fantasmes et aux hallucinations. Nous tentons de cerner, à travers des œuvres littéraires et photographiques variées (Nerval, Champfleury, Nadar, Maupassant, Geffroy, Rachilde, Bonnetain, etc…) les différents phénomènes qui apparaissent comme les principaux agents de déréalisation de l’image photographique. / In the nineteenth century, photographs are first seen as true images. Produced mechanically, they would be the faithful copy of reality. This justified the belief in the truth of photographic images. From the earliest speeches made about it, photographs appeared as transparent images, giving nothing more to see than reality. This explains the postures of rejection generally adopted by writers and artists in the face of the photographic image, seen as the antithesis of art. Our work tries to show how, on the contrary, photography has been rendered in literary texts, to its visibility, that is, to its nature as a true image. To do this, we determine how the optical phenomenon of aberration, which is a deformation of the image, accounts for a line of thought which tries to conceive of photography as a vector of disturbances in its representation of reality. We then examine different manifestations of this phenomenon in literature. They are linked to a growing awareness of the materiality of the images and their particular mode of manufacture, but also of the defects opacifying what they represent. The attention given by certain writers to what we call the “photographic dimension” of photographs opens up multiple avenues to the poetics of texts and situates the photographic model beyond realism. The inquiry on photography in texts also makes it possible to measure the consequences of a belief in the truth of images, a belief that reveals itself, at different levels, as aberrant. Indeed, the fantasy of perfect visibility has not been apprehended only as a means of rational measurement of the world. The increased and excessive visibility of photography reveals, on the contrary, what is strangest and most disturbing in reality. The photographic model illuminates a fantastical representation of the world’s fantasies and hallucinations. The different phenomena studied then appear as the principal agents of derealization of the photographic image.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

La poésie et la cosmologie sont étroitement liées depuis l’Antiquité. Des traités d’astronomie didactiques en vers aux récits mythologiques, en passant par les hypothèses cosmologiques versifiées sur la structure de notre monde, les formes de ce dialogue sont aussi nombreuses que diverses. Or les échanges féconds entre poésie et cosmologie perdurent à travers les âges, pour culminer au XIXe siècle, dont les débuts marquent une promotion remarquable de la nuit dans l’imaginaire littéraire, à compter du premier Romantisme européen. Le cosmos, source inépuisable d’enchantement poétique, devient au XIXe siècle un sujet d’autant plus riche que les découvertes scientifiques bouleversent notre conception des cieux, ouvrant la voie à une cosmologie moderne gouvernée par les mathématiques et l’astrophysique. En France, poésie et cosmologie connaissent alors un ensemble de mutations dues à une crise de légitimité engagée par le discours positiviste. L’enquête montre comment le contexte de redéfinition des méthodes scientifiques et de renversement progressif de la hiérarchie des discours entre science et Belles-lettres a informé le dialogue entre la poésie et la cosmologie, dans le cadre d’une redéfinition parallèle de leurs formes, enjeux et valeurs. En étudiant le moment de cette transition, elle permet de porter un regard nouveau sur un ensemble de problématiques majeures qui traversent la poésie du second XIXe siècle : la forme totale et le problème du didactisme, la hiérarchie des discours de la science et de la poésie, et la question du sacerdoce poétique au regard d’un renouvellement du rapport à la mythologie. / Since Antiquity, there has been a close relationship between poetry and cosmology. We can perceive the coevolution of these two disciplines in a wide range of different poetic forms: mythological tales, versified didactic treatises, or versified cosmological hypotheses on the structure of worldly existence. Nineteenth-century France witnesses particularly intense debates about the nature of both poetry and cosmology, however, and the functions of these two disciplines increasingly merge, especially after Romanticism. The cosmos assumes a new relevance as both the subject of scientific investigation and poetic creation. In this period of history, crucial scientific discoveries change our perception of the skies and give rise to the modern science of cosmology, based on the principles of mathematics and astrophysics. The legitimacy of both poetry and cosmology is tested by positivist discourse, as the definition of scientific methods change and the hierarchy between science and literature is inverted. This study shows the importance of this historical context in the dialogue between poetry and cosmology. Focusing on this crucial historical turning point, this thesis sheds a new light on various major issues that French poets faced in the second half of the twentieth century: the poetic quest for a totalizing form, the difficulties posed by the didactic genre, the value of domains of knowledge and literature, the question of the religious mission of poetry, and the renewal of mythology at the time.

Duas coletâneas das novelas Noites em uma granja perto de Dikanka, de Nikolai Gógol (1809-1852), publicadas entre 1831 e 1832 e chamadas pelos pesquisadores de ucranianas, formaram o primeiro livro que trouxe o então jovem escritor à fama na sociedade literária russa. A obra, além de apresentar ao público o ainda pouco conhecido material etnográfico, ganhou destaque por formar uma complexa síntese das várias camadas literárias e culturais, colocando Noites dentro do sistema de várias oposições (romantismo/realismo; cristianismo/paganismo; catolicismo/ortodoxia, russo/europeu), sujeito à discussão até nossos dias. Nesta dissertação, discute-se a possível conexão das obras de Nikolai Gógol, em especial as suas novelas ucranianas, com a poética do romance gótico inglês, gênero popular e difundido na Rússia no início do século XIX. Tal circunstância proporcionou o vasto uso e adaptação dos procedimentos típicos góticos pelos autores russos na época gogoliana. Para mostrar isso, são procurados e analisados os traços recorrentes do gênero em questão, que mostram a evolução e a transformação do gótico em um novo território e na poética de Gógol em particular. Compõe, ainda, o volume desta dissertação a tradução de duas novelas gogolianas A noite da véspera do dia de Ivan Kupala (Vêtcher nakanune Ivana Kupala) e Uma noite de maio, ou uma moça afogada (Máiskaia notch, ili utóplennitsa). O critério de seleção dos textos em questão foi a presença marcante dos traços da tradição gótica. / Two collections of tales Evenings on a farm near Dikanka, by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852), published between 1831 and 1832 and named by the researchers Ukrainian, formed the first book that brought a then young writer to fame in the Russian literary society. The work, aside from introducing to the public the yet little known ethnographic material, was highlighted for forming a complex synthesis of different cultural and literary layers, putting the Evenings into a system of various oppositions (romanticism/realism, Christianity/paganism, catholicism/orthodoxy, Russian/European), subject to a discussion until nowadays. This dissertation discusses a possible connection of Gogols works, especially his Ukrainian tales, with the poetics of English gothic romance, a popular and diffused genre in Russia in the beginning of the XIXth century. That circumstance conditioned the widespread use and adaptation of typical Gothic devices by the Russian authors during the gogolian era. To prove that, our work researches and analyses the recurrent traces of the genre in question, that show the evolution and transformation of Gothic in the new territory in general and in Gogols poetics in particular. This dissertation also presents the translation into Portuguese of two Gogols tales St. Johns Eve (Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala) and May Night, or The Drowned Maiden (Mayskaya noch, ili Utoplennitsa). The selection criteria was the most outstanding presence of the Gothic traces in these texts.

Esta dissertação de mestrado tem como enfoque o livro Viagem ao Brasil, escrito pelo Príncipe Maximiliano de Wied-Neuwied, bem como as imagens, gravuras e aquarelas produzidas pelo príncipe por conta da viagem. Entre 1815 e 1817, o príncipe percorreu os atuais estados do Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais e Bahia. Esta viagem resultou no diário publicado na Alemanha em 1820 e em diversos outros países e línguas nos anos subseqüentes. O diário de Maximiliano poderia ter sido relegado, como tantos outros diários produzidos no século XIX sobre o exótico Novo Mundo, mas sua descrição minuciosa da história natural do país e o tratamento pitoresco conferido à população que hora serve para confirmar os estereótipos de Maximiliano, hora para justificar a originalidade de seus escritos chamam a atenção do leitor através da presença de Guack, índio Botocudo que dispensa as funções de acompanhante, tradutor e, sobretudo, interlocutor indispensável no contato de Maximiliano com o território desconhecido e inexplorado. Contudo, por meio do papel de Guack na narrativa pode-se perceber que o território percorrido por Maximiliano é tudo menos desconhecido ou inexplorado, e sua população certamente não é virgem ou intocada. A análise concentra-se na criação da denominação Botocudo, nas estratégias usadas pelos nativos em seu constante contato com os portugueses, os escravos oriundos da África e mesmo entre os diversos grupos indígenas, e quão pouco consciente Maximiliano parece ser no que diz respeito à realidade que o cerca, na produção do diário, pinturas e aquarelas a serem apreciados pelos europeus. / This thesis focuses on the diary written by Prince Maximilian von Wied Neuwied, based on his journey in Brazil. Throughout the years of 1815 to 1817, the prince traveled across the current Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Bahia. His two-year journey resulted in a diary, published in Germany in 1820 and in several other countries and languages during the following years. Even though it could have been yet another journal amidst the hundreds produced in the nineteenth century concerning the exotic New World, its thorough description of the countrys natural history and its picturesque approach to its population which at times are either brought about to confirm Maximilians stereotypes and previous readings on Brazil, and at other times, to justify the originality of his writings catches the readers eyes for the subtle presence of Guack, an Indian from the so-called Botocudo tribe who plays a crucial role in the journey both as Maximilians accompanier, translator, and above all, indispensable interlocutor in the acquaintance with what Maximilian refers to as this unknown, unexplored territory. Yet it is by means of Guacks role in the narrative that one is inevitably driven to see that the territory Maximilian visits is anything but unknown or unexplored, and its population is anything but virgin and untouched. The analysis focuses on the creation of the Botocudo label, which can be traced as early as the sixteenth century, the strategies used by the natives in their constant contact with the Portuguese, the African slaves and even amongst themselves, and how aloof Maximilian seems to be regarding the reality surrounding him while producing his diary, paintings and images for his European counterparts.

L’élégie connaît une vogue manifeste à l’aube de notre modernité, au sein de ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler le préromantisme et le romantisme. Mais cet engouement ne va pas sans susciter de profondes interrogations sur la dimension générique de l’élégie. En effet, depuis son acclimatation en français, l’élégie ne peut plus être définie par le seul critère formel, devenu douteux. En outre, dès l’âge classique, deux dangers minent le genre : sa variété thématique qui gêne sa définition et une évolution sclérosante qui le fige en clichés. Émerge donc le souci de rédimer un certain babélisme de l’élégie et d’en refonder le pouvoir expressif par le recours à la notion plus souple d’ « élégiaque ». La modernité de l’élégie s’adosse à cet héritage problématique et réclame une perspective d’étude résolument historique : la vitalité de l’élégie au seuil du XIXe siècle s’autorise d’une nouvelle saisie du genre, qui promeut l’élégiaque au rang de critère premier, ramenant peu à peu l’étiquette d’élégie à la portion congrue. L’œuvre de Millevoye permet de dater ce point de bascule, qui ouvre la voie à l’élégie romantique, attachée à la notion naissante de « lyrisme » et magnifiée par Lamartine sous les auspices de la méditation. Mais en refondant l’élégie sur l’expressivité élégiaque, la modernité romantique l’a soumise aux aléas des sollicitations du sujet par l’histoire, qui le déstabilisent. D’où un déplacement de l’écriture élégiaque durant la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, dans le repliement intimiste, le dédoublement parodique et humoristique, ou encore la polyphonie, manifestations diverses d’une remise en cause de la source subjective de la plainte élégiaque. Quand revient à la surface du champ littéraire l’élégie revendiquée comme telle, à l’occasion du traumatisme de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, c’est pour cristalliser en un genre labile les doutes, les deuils et les sourires d’un lyrisme incertain de son propre chant comme de l’existence du sujet qui le hante plus qu’il ne le chante. / The elegy was fashionable at the dawn of modernity, during the periods which are known as Pre-Romanticism and Romanticism. But this infatuation with elegy was not without raising deep questioning on its generic dimension. Indeed since the French had appropriated the genre, the elegy can no longer be just defined by a formal criterion which has become disputable. Furthermore, as early as the classical period, two dangers have been subverting the genre: its wide range of themes which is an obstacle to our grasping its quintessence and an evolution at a standstill condemning it to stereotyped perceptions. And from this came the worry to amend the confusion existing around the elegy as well as the urge to revivify its expressive power around the more flexible notion of "elegiac". The modernity of the elegy relies on this problematic heritage and requires a study in historical perspective: the vitality of the elegy at the beginning of the XIXth century allowed itself to provide a new interpretation of its genre that promoted the elegiac as a decisive criterion. Millevoye’s works enables us to date this turning point which paved the way to the romantic elegy linked to the rising notion of "lyricism" and glorified by Lamartine under the auspices of meditation. But while revivifying the elegy on elegiac expressiveness, romantic modernity compelled with the subject having to respond to historical vagaries that were eventually unsettling. Hence a shifting away from elegiac writing during the second half of the XIXth century into intimist withdrawal, parodic splitting or polyphony, all of them being various utterances of a questioning of the elegiac complaint’s subjective source. When the elegy as such resurfaced the literary scene owing to the trauma of the Second World War, it featured a shifting genre to crystallize the doubts, mournings and smiles of a lyricism as uncertain of its own song as the very existence of a subject that haunted its lines more than he inhabited them.